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[Region 1][Map 13][Town 01] Kwourin

I thought I should set the scene. I am currently working on the town of Kwourin in Groam. I hope to have the beginnings of a map up tomorrow, but for now a bit of history.

During the silver rush Kwourin was a strategically placed town from which silver and tin were sent to the far corners of the region. It was essentially a trading town with a large silver vault and smelting facilities. Many orc slaves were brought into the town to be sent to the mining centres as and when they were needed. They were housed in large slave lodges on the outskirts of the town. Many of the orcs were pressed into service within Kwourin itslef and a relatively large orcish community grew up there. The town had a sizeable garrison stationed on the ridge the spans the Eastern side of the town.

During the early plague years Kwourin became the center for the study of possible cures and also a hospital town, dealing with those infected. Some of Groam's greatest healers came to reside there and an agricultural system emerged producing a small quantity of food crops, but mostly medicinal plants. With the emergence of the Grey Watch and the building of the walls the flow of the sick into Kwourin stopped. The Watch commandeered the garrison buildings and established a fortress. They immediately began a purge of all the sick, rounding them up on one fateful night and forced marching them Eastwards to an unknown destination. This caused great unrest and several riots erupted which were harshly put down by the Watch.

When the migrations began Kwourin was one of the first towns to begin emptying. It lost more than half its population. The Grey Watch were quick to give up Kwourin as a seat of their power. Its administrative systems instantly began to break down. The inability to manage the town resulted in the freedom of the orcish slaves, many of whom awoke one morning to find their compounds unlocked and their captors missing. Most of the Orcs chose to stay, often occupying the very homes occupied by their former slave masters. With the human population having dwindled the balance shifted in favour of the Orcs. Of the humans that stayed most realised the need to forge a new relationship with the former slaves. Some rudimentary agriculture remains. The orcs, due to their martial character have installed themselves as thenew local militia, in a loosely constituted unit calling itself "The shackled Talon". It is they who now garrison the town.

The human inhabotants of Kwourin may not like having the orcs so close to them, but if the city ever is attacked it is only the Talon that will stand between the enemy and the city's ruination.

Wow that looks fantastic, Torq! The mountains are stunning, complete with contour lines! - although not sure if you should keep one or the other - I like it anyway.

May be worth playing with the opacity of the fields, by making them more opaque, at the moment they look a little ghostly compared to the buildings and 'brownland'.

The town itself looks entirely disordered at the moment, like a big refugee camp. From the history you've written it sounds like the town was once under a central, military authority, so it ma be an idea to have the underlying 'bones' of the city reflect that by having them quite regimented. The healers and the smelting mines suggest districts individual to each. now the Orcs are in charge, presumably the city is more chaotic, but it might be worth to still have some of the remenants of the earlier structure of the city vaguely apparent to give it more depth?

I find convincing cities incredibly hard to draw, this is looking great.

In Defense of Kwourin

Kwourin didn't start out as a military town. It started out as mining boom town. These towns, as I understand it, often grow faster that it is possible to establish proper administration. Johannesburg, in my own country, is a good example. They tend to be haphazard in design and reflect the rapid influx of many people.

When Kwourin beame a Grey Watch outpost it acquired a fortress and administraitve buildings, which will be included in the next draft of the map. The Watch then abandoned it and its population began to shrink.

Enough of the belated after the fact justifications for the layout. Here is the post-modern reason for it. I used the RPG Citymap Generator to set up the layout. I chose the option for a "Medium sized Central European City". I think that by adding in the up until now left out larger buildings some of your concerns will be adressed.